


The Fate of the World

by adraztea



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, M/M, Magical Realism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 18:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/690181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adraztea/pseuds/adraztea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one can escape their fate. Whether it’s good or bad, strange or just plain normal, it is what it is. One day, things will change and there is not a single thing you can do about it. </p>
<p>Unless your name is John Watson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fate of the World

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for a prompt on the [Sherlock BBC Kink Meme](http://sherlockbbc-fic.livejournal.com/19743.html?thread=119165471#t119165471) on LJ.
> 
> _John and his mates (Rugby mates? Army mates? Don't particularly care) went to see a fortune teller for a lark. She tells all his mates fairly normal fortunes, but when it gets to John she smiles... And hands him his money back._  
>  _"You have no fate I can see. You were put on this Earth to change the fate of others. I wish you all the luck in the world."_  
>  _Go wherever you want from there._
> 
> This prompt has planted itself firmly in my mind and refuses to let go. That said, the story is a WIP. I currently have three more chapters drafted, with maybe two more to come. I'll post each chapter as soon as it is finished, but I'm not making any promises as to when that will happen. (My personal goal is once a week.)

_Brighton, 1993_

John sank deeper into the soft cushions of the sofa and tried to hide his sigh. There really was a limit on how many times he could listen to his grandmother’s ramblings about her youthful adventures, despite how much he loved her. Besides, he wasn’t even sure how much truth there were in the stories to begin with, since most seemed to take place during the twenties, and sure, his grandmother was old, but not that old. Not that he would speak up about his doubts, of course, since his parents had raised him right. He was respectful of his elders, and he was polite, and quite frankly, if he didn’t find a way to get out of the house within the next five minutes, he would go completely crazy. 

”Oh Gran, not this again!”

John perked up. Considering Harry and him had been raised by the same set of parents, it was almost unbelievable how different they were. His sister had no qualms about letting the world know her opinions. Their grandmother looked up at her and smiled.

”Told this one before, have I?”

”Only about a hundred times,” Harry said and plunked herself down on the sofa next to John, the content of her glass almost splashing out as she did so. He quickly stole the glass from her and took a sip. Harry raised an eyebrow at him as he did his best not to cough up the liquid again. He swallowed, but not without difficulty. That stuff was vile.

”Have I told you about the time I met the prince, then?”

”Five hundred times,” Harry said under her breath and took her glass back. John noticed she didn’t have any problem drinking it before she handed him the glass again. Their grandmother droned on in the background. John didn’t need to listen to the story to know when to nod and when to smile. He didn’t really need to be sober to do that either, did he? He took the glass. Still vile. He handed it back to Harry, who drank half of it, and then handed it back again.

Huh. It tasted better this time. 

”Gran.” Harry finally interrupted the never-ending story. ”You know we love you, but we’re young. We need to get out of here for a while. I know it’s our last day and all, but honestly, all this talk about your adventures have made me in the mood for some adventures of my own. So, is it okay if I take my little brother here with me and hit the town for a while?”

John felt as if his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. He waited for the shocked expression on their grandmother’s face to turn into an angry version of the ”I-have-never-heard-of-such-a-rude-child”-speech that their mother had worked to perfection over the past year. Harry’s teenage rebellion might have been a bit late, but she had made a comeback with a vengeance. 

Instead, their grandmother actually laughed; she leaned her head back and the hearty laugh made her sound like the young girl in the stories she had been telling. 

”Oh dear, have I become so dull? Of course, you two, off you go! Don’t stay out too late, because your mother won’t be happy if she has to drag you two out of bed when she comes to pick you up tomorrow.”

”Thanks, Gran,” John said and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, not staying another second to see if she would change her mind. Harry lingered a minute in the kitchen, the two small bottles she brought with her enough evidence of what she had been up to when she finally joined John outside. She handed him one of them and smiled. 

”So, baby brother, what kind of glorious evening do you have planned now that I have busted us out?”

”Plans?” John scoffed and took a sip from the bottle. Whatever was in there, it was even stronger than the mix Harry had had in the house. ”Plans are for losers.”

”Mostly,” Harry agreed as they walked towards the town centre. ”But occasionally they’re good things to have.”

”In that case,” John pretended to think, ”I now have a plan. It involves drinking this revolting thing you have managed to mix together from… what, old cherry schnapps, milk and nail polish remover?” Harry only laughed and shook her head, so he went on, ”and then going to a pub, drink some beer, and meet some girls. Sounds good?”

”Sounds perfect,” Harry answered. ”Except you’re not old enough to go to a pub.”

”Neither are you, _big sister_ , but it has never stopped us before.”

”True. But it is summer, John, and it is our last night here, so it’s only fair that we spend the last night in a traditional way.”

”And that would be…?”

”The pier.”

Harry set off running, leaving him behind. Well, he couldn’t have that. He was a faster runner, and there was no time like the present to prove it. 

When they were kids, the pier had been the best thing about spending the summers with their grandparents. The amusement arcade had been the reason John had never had any money, but it had always been worth it. This summer, he hadn’t even been there once. After the year they had had, it just hadn’t felt right. Sure, the pier was something he had loved when he was a kid, but he wasn’t that kid anymore. He was all grown up, even if he was only seventeen. Seventeen, going on thirty-five.

He caught up with Harry by the promenade, both of them leaning hard against the railing to catch their breaths. 

”The pier,” John said and looked at the brightly lit structure. ”Well, we’re here. Now what?”

”Now, we finish these,” Harry said and waved her bottle in the air. ”Then we’ll find some fun people, and then we’ll have fun. Simple.”

\- - -

It _was_ simple, John decided a couple of hours later. They had managed to run in to some friends from summers past, and Harry had quickly disappeared with one of the girls. John was quite content with spending time with Tom, his old childhood friend, even if Tom asked where Harry had gone off to a bit too often.

”I really like this place,” John confessed as he sat with Tom on one of the benches.

”That’s because you don’t have to live here,” he said. ”This place in the winter is a nightmare. The most boring place on Earth, I swear.”

John leaned back on the bench. The wind that swept in from the sea didn’t really bother him, but Tom pulled the zipper of his black-and-blue sweatshirt up further and hid his chin in the collar.

”I could actually see myself living here in the future,” John said. ”A nice flat, a nice girl.”

Tom stared at him as if John was completely mad.

”I’m not staying,” he said with determination. ”One more year, then I’m leaving. I’m not going to spend my life stuck here.”

”Yeah? What do you want to do then?”

”Haven’t decided yet. My Dad says plumbers will always have work, but my brother’s talking about starting his own car mechanic shop in London. I might join him. I think I prefer being up to my elbows in motor grease than being up to my elbows in shite.”

”Sounds nicer,” John agreed with laugh.

”What about you then?”

John sat up a bit and shrugged. He wanted to be a doctor, a surgeon maybe, but it didn’t feel quite right to say that after Tom’s more down to earth career plans. 

”I’m thinking a bit about joining the army.”

It wasn’t even a lie. He was thinking about it. They had this great thing, when you could be both a doctor and a soldier, and he was pretty sure that would be something he could be good at. One thing he had learnt about himself in the past year was that he could work well under pressure. It was as if stressful situations didn’t affect him in the same way as it did others; his mind became clear instead of panicking.

Tom shook his head, as if he once again thought John had lost his mind.

”Army? Why would you… Oh, your dad is in the army, right?”

John could feel the beat of his heart. One, two, three. 

”Yeah, he… He was.”

”I guess it kind of makes sense, then, you wanting to join the army. I could never do it. Letting someone else decide my future for me? No way!”

”What’s all this I’m hearing about the future?”

Harry seemed to turn up from nowhere. John had probably never been happier to see her. From the look on Tom’s face, neither had he. 

”Hi, Harry! I thought you had gone home,” he said. John rolled his eyes behind Tom’s back.

”Nope, I’m still here, and I’m not only here, I’m here to make sure your future is bright and shiny! Did you know there’s a fortune teller here?”

John groaned at Harry’s excited exclamation.

”No way, Harry. I’m not spending my money on some charlatan who’s only telling people that they’re going to meet someone tall, dark and handsome in their future.” 

”Well, let’s hope she doesn’t tell anyone of us that, then. Come one, baby brother, be a bit spontaneous! Do something silly!”

Tom was already standing up.

”Yeah, let’s go, John! It’ll be a laugh.” 

He groaned again, but he did get up. 

The real reason for Harry’s excitement became obvious as they found the small tent where the fortune teller were. The girl Harry had gone off with earlier was already standing in line, definitely happy about the chance to hear lies and vague remarks about her future. John introduced himself, and the girl, Caroline, seemed nice enough. Harry put an arm around her waist as they waited, leaning close to whisper something in her ear, and Tom struck his elbow in John’s ribs. 

”Listen, could you maybe put in a good word for me with your sister?” he said in a low voice. ”She’s really great.” 

John resisted the urge to answer ”yeah, and so’s her girlfriend”, because he honestly had no clue about the status of his sister’s relationships. He had thought she had a girlfriend back home, but from the look of things that was over. He made a sound that could probably be interpreted as a yes, because Tom smiled and thanked him with a slap on his shoulder. 

”Next!” 

The voice from inside the small tent didn’t sound like someone who had the ability to predict the future. To be honest it sounded more like a bored cashier. Caroline slunk inside with a giggle. 

”We’re not really going through with this, are we?” John asked Harry.

”Why not? It’s interesting!” She was a bit unsteady on her feet, but her smile was sure. Tom leaned closer to both of them and put his arm around their shoulders. 

”Of course we are going through with this! We’re about to know all the mysteries of our futures. Who could resist?”

John could, if it hadn’t been for the happy smile on his sister’s face. He had missed that look. 

”Fine,” he sighed. ”We’re going to get lied to and ripped off and we’re going to be happy about it.” 

”Damn right we are,” Harry agreed as Caroline came back out. ”So what did she say? Tell me!”

”Oh, it was so exciting! You’ll never believe…”

”Next!”

”That would be you, Harry,” John said and gave her a light shove that earned him an annoyed look. 

”No, go ahead, I want to hear what she told Caroline first.”

”I’ll go!” Tom announced and ducked inside the tent. 

”Okay, listen to this,” Caroline said, addressing both of the Watson siblings. ”First, she said that I’m a very caring person, and that’s completely right, yeah? I want to work with kids, so of course I care about people. Then she said that I had already met someone really special,” she looked up at Harry and blushed a little, ”but that one day I’d get married to a tall, dark-haired man and have two children.”

John raised his eyebrow at Harry and mouthed the words _tall, dark and handsome_. 

”Oh, wow,” Harry said, completely ignoring him. ”Really?”

”Well, I told you,” Caroline said softly and turned her back against John a little, fingering the hem of Harry’s top as she spoke, ”that I like both girls and boys. And I really want children in the future. I like kids.” 

”Yeah, of course, in the _future_ ,” Harry said. ”As in many years from now. I wonder what she’ll say to me. Better not be about getting married, considering _I_ don’t like boys.” 

”In the future, maybe you’ll be able to marry a girl,” Caroline said, and John turned his back at the both of them. It was clearly a private conversation, even if he couldn’t help but to hear it. ”Things change, you know.” 

”Of course they do.” Harry sounded bitter. ”Not always for the better.” 

Tom stepped out of the tent, and John didn’t even bother waiting for the bored ”next!” to be called out before he went inside to be told his future.

\- - -

The tent was tiny, and the thin fabric didn’t really shut any out of the sounds from outside. The lighting was pretty bad though, and the overall feeling of the place actually was a bit ethereal. John was almost impressed, until he remembered that he was just about to spend ten quid on a scam artist that couldn’t even be bothered to get a real table for the tent. The cheap garden furniture kind of took the mystique away.

The fortune teller looked at him and nodded at the empty plastic folding chair. John sat down and took a good look at the person sitting opposite him. The woman was probably in her thirties, or maybe early forties, and her dark hair was gathered together in a perfectly ordinary ponytail. He hadn’t really expected her to wear jeans and a shirt, but she was; blue jeans and green shirt. 

”Shouldn’t you be wearing a long dress and a scarf or something?” He couldn’t stop the question. She smiled in return.

”I could,” she agreed, ”but where would the fun be in that? Here, I can take that,” she took his money and put it away somewhere, ”and give me your hands.”

With a last sigh, John put his hands on the table, palms up. If he was doing this, he might as well go all out. 

”So what can you tell me?” he asked. ”Any good things happening in the future?” 

The woman brushed her own hands over his palms with a smile, but then the smile faded. She pulled at his fingers, and then she pressed her thumbs down on his palms, right under his own thumbs. 

”This is interesting,” she said. John looked down at his hands, but he couldn’t see anything amiss. 

”What is?” 

”Fortune is a funny thing, young man. It comes in many forms.” She let go of his hands and leaned back in her chair. 

”So no tall, dark and handsome in my future, then?” he tried to joke and pulled his hands away from the table. 

”I can’t tell,” she said. Suddenly, she was holding his money again, reaching the note out for him to take. 

”You’re giving me my money back?”

”Yes. You have no fate that I can see.”

”That sounds a bit ominous.” He took the money, but he didn’t like the feeling that had decided to set up camp in his stomach. The woman smiled, a warm smile that reached all the way to her eyes. It didn’t really make him feel better.

”Not in the least. You were put on this Earth to change the fate of others. I wish you all the luck in the world.” 

He stood up to leave. Right before he walked outside, he turned back again. The fortune teller was still smiling. With a last shake of his head, John stepped outside. 

”Finally!” Harry pushed past him to get inside. ”I’ve been waiting forever.” 

”Harry, wait.” He grabbed her arm. ”Maybe we should go home.” 

Harry laughed, a quick laugh that didn’t sound very happy. 

”What, you didn’t like your future? I bet mine is better.” 

He let go of her and joined Tom and Caroline to wait. 

”So what did she tell you?” Tom asked. ”Are you going to join the army?”

John shrugged. 

”We’ll see. How about you? Cars or plumbing?”

”She didn’t have that much to say. Said I’ll meet a blonde later on and that it’ll change my life.”

”Maybe it’s me you’ll meet,” Caroline said with a smile. 

”I’ve known you forever, Caroline,” Tom said. ”I don’t think that counts.”

John laughed a little. 

”Well, you never know,” he said. ”Caroline is blonde, after all, and your hair is dark, Tom. Maybe it’s meant to be.” 

”Yeah, what if everything she told us is for real?” Caroline said, her eyes big. ”That would be so scary.” 

”Don’t you know?” Tom asked and leaned closer. ”This fortune teller is special. Everything she says is going to come true.”

Caroline stared for him a second longer before she hit him on the shoulder and laughed. Tom laughed along with her, and John smiled. 

”It’s all crap, I know that,” Caroline said with a small shrug. ”But it’s kind of fun, too.” 

”Well, I’m not so sure it’s fun,” John began. He was just going to tell them about what the woman had told him when the plastic chair inside the tent tumbled out of the tent opening, and then Harry followed it. She didn’t even stop to look at them, she just ran along the pier. Caroline and Tom stared after her. ”Shit. Guys, I’ll take care of this. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

He didn’t wait to hear their response.

\- - -

”Harry!”

The pebbles of the beach rattled under his trainers as he ran after his sister. She was still ahead of him, almost down at the water. When had the wind started up? The waves were crashing in over the beach, and he really didn’t want her to get in to the dark water. Fortunately, she turned a bit before she reached the edge of the waves and ran alongside the water. The further away from the pier they got, the darker everything became. 

”Harry, wait!” 

He was faster, but she had had a head start. They both fell down when he finally got near enough to put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She was crying. Not the pretty crying that some girls did, but with full on heavy sobs and destroyed make-up and snot all over her face.

Trying to comfort Harry had always been a bit like having a fight. He was sure his knees were scraped raw from the pebbles before he managed to put his arms around her to try to calm her down. 

”What happened? What did she say?”

”It was horrible,” she wailed. ”God, this was such a bad idea!”

”Hey, calm down. Come on, tell me what she said.” 

”I don’t even know anymore, it was all so worthless. She said I was going to get married. Married! Me!” 

”Well, you heard what Caroline said, before. Things change, you know.” 

”Oh god, stop it!” She sat up straight and tried to dry her face. ”Don’t you get anything?” 

”Apparently not,” he said, but she wasn’t even listening. 

”I’ll turn into everything I despise. I’ll turn in to some perfect little housewife that sits at home with the kids and has dinner ready at five o’clock every fucking day. Mum will finally be happy with me when that happens. Then she can pretend that I’m her perfect daughter.” 

”Harry…”

”No, don’t ’Harry’ me, you know it’s true. She’s so disappointed in me that she can’t even look at me. And I get it, I really do. _I’m_ disappointed in me. Everything I try to do just… just…” 

She swallowed and put a hand over her mouth. John scrambled to his feet and moved out of the way. At least she managed to turn away before she threw up. She spit once and made sure nothing had gotten in her hair. 

”Everything I try to do just turns into vomit,” she finally said. ”No matter how good my intentions are.” 

”Now you’re just being morose,” John said and helped his sister stand up. ”You have plenty of good things in your life.”

”And according to that fortune teller, I’m going to destroy every single one of those things,” Harry said as they stumbled away from the water. ”If I’m _not careful_.” She said the last two words in a serious voice before she twisted her face up in a scowl. 

”What does that woman know anyway? She told me I didn’t even have a fortune,” John said. 

”What?”

”Exactly, _what?_ Everyone has a fortune, right? A fate. A future. A… well, something.” 

”Yeah, they do. Why would she say that?”

Harry stopped him as they reached the road. She swayed a bit as she looked at him. Well, to be honest, he swayed a bit himself as well. 

”I don’t even know. Or… well… Maybe she heard us talking, before.” The thought hadn’t occurred to him before, but suddenly it made sense. ”You know, she heard me talking about not believing in any of it, and you talking about liking girls, and maybe she’s some kind of homophobic sadist who decided to, I don’t know, have some fun? Teach us a lesson?” 

Harry looked at him, eyebrows deeply furrowed, and then she nodded before she shook her head as if to clear it.

”That’s probably true,” she said. ”What does she know, anyway? She’s just some random woman.” 

”Yeah, she is. She doesn’t know anything about the future.” 

”No, she doesn’t. God, I think I’m going to be sick again.” 

This time, John held her hair as she leaned over the railing. 

”I think we’re a bit drunk,” he commented. She snorted. 

”You think?” 

”Just a little bit. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. I won’t let you turn everything to vomit on the way back to Gran’s house.” 

Harry laughed. 

”Hey, I’m the one supposed to take care of you, baby brother, not the other way around.” 

”You’re older by fifteen minutes, Harry. I think it’s okay if I take care of you once in a while.” 

”Fine, just this once. We’d better get cleaned up before Mum gets here tomorrow.”

”Oh god, could you imagine what she would say if she could see us now?”

For a second, John imagined the horrified expression on their mother’s face. Then he looked at Harry, and they both broke down in laughter. 

”Let’s just get back,” Harry said when they could walk again. ”Things will get better, right?”

”Yeah, they will.” They had to be, he thought. They just had to be.

\- - -

It took getting shot, half a world and half a life away from that shore in England, before John remembered that night again. He hadn’t been put on the Earth to have his own fate. He was there to change the fate of others; this time he was needed in London. 


End file.
